Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical writing control device, an image forming apparatus, and an optical writing control method.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the computerization of information tends to be promoted. Thus, image processing apparatuses such as a printer and a facsimile that are used for outputting the computerized information, and a scanner that is used for computerizing documents have become indispensable apparatuses. Among such image processing apparatuses, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is widely used as an image forming apparatus used for outputting the computerized documents.
The electrophotographic image forming apparatus performs image formation and image output in the following manner. First, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing a photoconductor. Then, the formed electrostatic latent image is developed using developer such as toner, so that a toner image is formed. The toner image is transferred onto a sheet, and the sheet is output.
In such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, after the toner image developed on the photoconductor is transferred, discharge exposure of exposing the entire surface for eliminating electric charge remaining on the photoconductor is performed. A dedicated light source is provided for this discharge exposure in some cases. In other cases, a light source for forming an electrostatic latent image is also used for the discharge exposure.
On the other hand, in some cases, a linear light source is used as a light source for exposing the photoconductor. In the linear light source, point light sources such as light emitting diode (LED) elements or electro-luminescence (EL) elements are linearly arrayed in a main scanning direction. When the LED elements are arrayed, the linear light source is referred to as an LED Array (LEDA).